St. Patrick’s Parade to march through downtown St. Charles Saturday

While the temperature is only expected to reach 37 degrees on Saturday, plenty of Irish eyes are expected to be smiling during the St. Patrick’s Parade in downtown St. Charles.

The parade will step off at 2 p.m. at Main and 6th streets. This year’s parade will feature a record number of units – 85.

“It’s bigger than ever this year,” said Amy Curione, events manager for the St. Charles Business Alliance, which organizes the parade. “We’ve got more music than we’ve ever had and we have some new family entertainment in the parade that we haven’t had before. And a lot of local businesses are stepping up as well as community groups. We’re excited to see how they decorate their entries. I think it’s going to be a great parade this year.”

In past years, people wanting to get a good spot to watch the parade have put their chairs out by 8 a.m. the day of the parade, an indication of the parade’s popularity. The parade returned to downtown St. Charles last year following a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic.

“Around town, you’re going to find fish and chips, corned beef and cabbage and Irish treats everywhere. So it will be very festive.”

—  Amy Curione, events manager for the St. Charles Business Alliance

Several events will take place prior to the parade, including the second annual Shamrockin’ Along The Fox River 8K Run, being presented by the St. Charles Park District in partnership with Dick Pond Athletics and the St. Charles Business Alliance. That event will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday at Pottawatomie Community Park, 8 North Ave.

To register, go to the St. Charles Park District’s website at stcparks.org.

An opening ceremony at 11 a.m. on the First Street Plaza in downtown St. Charles will feature Irish dancers and bagpipers. The ceremony is being held in partnership with McNally’s Irish Pub & Kitchen.

Other activities include a a St. Patrick-themed scavenger hunt, sponsored by McGrath Honda and hosted on the Travel St. Charles app.

In order to participate, individuals must locate four-leaf clovers hidden inside of participating downtown St. Charles businesses, and “check into” each stop on the app using the code written on them. Once an individual has “checked into” seven stops, they will be entered to win a pot-of-gold valued at $100.

The list of businesses and the scavenger hunt can be found on the Travel St. Charles app under the “Challenges” tab on the day of the event. Three winners will be selected live on March 13 on the St. Charles Business Alliance’s Facebook account, and will be notified via email.

More information on the scavenger hunt is at stcstpatricksparade.com/scavengerhunt. For those who want to capture some of the memories of the day, they can take a festive photo at the Lucky Photo Station, which will be located across from Pollyanna Brewing Company at Riverside Avenue and Illinois Street.

The photo station, sponsored by McNally’s Heating & Cooling. will stay up through March 17. Also on Saturday, many local businesses will have special sales and promotions in honor of the festivities.

“Around town, you’re going to find fish and chips, corned beef and cabbage and Irish treats everywhere,” Curione said. “So it will be very festive.”

To view the list of promotions, go to stcstpatricksparade.com/eventsaroundtown. The presenting sponsor for the parade is St. Charles Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. The partnership sponsor is McNally’s Irish Pub, and additional sponsors are McGrath Honda and McNally’s Heating & Cooling.